East Providence Mohawks ‘welcome’ increased participation in girls’ hoops program

Group encourages more young women to take part in summer season

By Mike Rego
Posted 4/17/19

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence Mohawks Youth Organization is putting out a big “welcome” sign to girls from the city, attempting to increase their participation in its upcoming summer …

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East Providence Mohawks ‘welcome’ increased participation in girls’ hoops program

Group encourages more young women to take part in summer season

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence Mohawks Youth Organization is putting out a big “welcome” sign to girls from the city, attempting to increase their participation in its upcoming summer youth basketball program with its “Ladies First Initiative.”

Now in its sixth year, the Mohawks summer hoops league expects to have some 600 players this season, an impressive total. However, based off of numbers from previous years, that figure only includes about 75 young women, according to Mohawks executive director and founder Damian Ramos.

“Last year, we had four teams in our (Kindergarten) K-2 division. In the grades 3-5 we had about 30 girls. The junior high division, it wasn’t the ideal situation. We started out trying to have four teams, but we ended up with only two. And our senior division, the high school division, we didn’t have enough girls to have one,” Ramos explained.

There was a bit of positive news about the Mohawks girls’ hoop program from the just completed winter season. The grades 3-5 grouping was able to have its own self contained division and for the first time the Mohawks put together a grades 4 and 5 travel team of 11 players.

That, though, isn’t satisfactory to Ramos, who said the impetus for trying to get more girls playing basketball stems from the recent struggles of the sport to gain traction at East Providence High School.

Ramos has an eager supporter in East Providence School District athletic director Gregg Amore, who made the former head coach for girls’ hoops at Martin Middle School and is backing his effort to provide the high school with a true feeder system it’s been lacking.

“I am working closely with the Mohawks to try to get girls playing basketball at the elementary school level so they have some experience and quality instruction when they enter our middle school programs,” Amore said. “CYO and recreation leagues do not exist in the city as they once did and we need to grow our program by getting kids excited about basketball at a young age.”

The Townies found this past season difficult upon their return to the state’s top tier following realignment by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. EPHS failed to win a game in Division I and only won a few non-league outings. In all, 18 players, likely a sub-optimal number, were involved in the high school program, 14 of which were on the varsity roster with six being underclassmen. Amore said a number in the low to mid 20s of players involved would be best for the EPHS girls’ program.

“For the fifth largest high school in the state not to be able to have a full JV team is pretty bad,” said Ramos. “It’s getting that tough to have a full program.”

With that in mind, the Mohawks are reducing the cost of participating in the summer league for female players, to $35 per player opposed to the usual $75 fee. And they’re also trying to get the word out about the program to all who will listen.

“It’s about the friendships you can make, the camaraderie and the experience of being on a team,” Ramos said. “Some of these girls don’t experience basketball until they get to middle school and by then it’s almost too late. Their skills aren’t at the same level of the other kids around the state. And by the time they get to high school, they don’t have any success and they get discouraged.”

Ramos contends girls’ basketball in East Providence, most notably at an early stage, hasn’t ever had the proper focus placed on it.

“It’s never been something anyone has emphasized, even though the turnout over the years in the middle schools and at the high school has been pretty good,” he said. “What we need to do is get the parents to bring them out. We need parents to expose their kids to different things to see if they’re interested. It can’t just be traditional ‘girls’ stuff. You’re never going to know if a kid is going to like something unless they try it. Every year, we have one or two girls who haven’t played before, who end up playing and they love basketball. They want to play AAU. They want to play during the summer. But that can’t happen if they don’t try it.”

The bottom line message of the Mohawks, like it is with its other programs for lacrosse and theater, is an avenue exists in the city for girls to participate in the sport of basketball at younger ages.

“We want the parents and the girls to know the program is available,” Ramos said. “We want them to get involved in more athletic activities like basketball. We want them to know it’s a good experience and want them to play the game before they start at a later time and they haven’t been exposed to the basic fundamentals. They have that opportunity with our girls’ program.”

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